Shelf location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Language:
English.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research, with the following exceptions: Folders in Box 135 and
ledgers in Box 154 are restricted. Contact the manuscript curator at the Louise M.
Darling Biomedical Library, History and Special Collections Division, for information on
access to these files.

Publication Rights

Information on permission to reproduce, quote, or publish is available from the History &
Special Collections Division.

FSARM
Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists of the Republic of Mexico

GMP
General Medical Research Program. Project Committee

HEW
Department of Health, Education and Welfare

IARS
International Anesthesia Research Society

IASP
International Association for the Study of Pain

ICA
International College of Anesthesiologists

ICS
International College of Surgeons

ICSOG
International Correspondence Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

IPF
International Pain Foundation

ISO
International Organization for Standardization

ISP
International Symposium on Pain

JJB
John J. Bonica

KCMS
King County Medical Society

LIU
Long Island University

MEND
Medical Education for National Defense

MOP
Management of Pain

NCCGRC
National Cancer Control Grant Review Committee

NCI
National Cancer Institute

NIAID
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

NICHD
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

NIDA
National Institute on Drug Abuse

NIDR
National Institute of Dental Research

NIGMS
National Institute of General Medical Sciences

NIH
National Institutes of Health

NINCDS
National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke

NPF
National Pain Foundation

NWSA
Northwest Society of Anesthesiologists

NYSSA
New York State Society of Anesthesiologists

OAA
Obstetric Anesthetists Association

PPOBAA
Principles and Practice of Obstetric Analgesia and Anesthesia

SAAC
Society of Academic Anesthesia Chairmen

SMA
Mexican Society of Anesthesiology

SOAP
Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology

TGH
Tacoma General Hospital

UN
United Nations

UW
University of Washington

WFSA
World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists

WHO
World Health Organization

WSSA
Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists

Biography

John J. Bonica (1917-1994), called "pain relief's founding father" by
Time magazine (11 June 1984), was an academic and clinical
anesthesiologist, educator, and founder of the International Association for the Study of
Pain.

Bonica was born February 16, 1917, to a prominent family in Filicudi, a small island in
Italy. His parents, Antonio and Angela, were middle-class, his father serving both in the
Italian army during World War I and as deputy mayor of the island. Despite a comfortable
and peaceful existence in Filicudi, Antonio, disturbed by Italy's emerging fascism,
decided to move the family to America, and emigrated by himself in 1925. In 1928, the
Bonica family joined Antonio in Brooklyn, New York, losing their considerable savings in
the process. Antonio died in 1932, leaving John, 15 years old and the only son, to
support the family by working several jobs. A collegiate wrestler, Bonica began his most
lucrative odd job in 1936: wrestling professionally. He was able to support his family
and finance his education through wrestling and working as a carnival "strong man" in the
summers, and eventually became light heavyweight champion of the world (1941) under the
name Johnny "Bull" Walker. He continued wrestling until 1950, well after he needed the
money it brought him. Ironically, the sport that financed Bonica's medical schooling,
allowing him to make so many advances in the field of pain management, was ultimately
responsible for chronic hip and shoulder pains that resulted in numerous operations and
lifelong discomfort.

Bonica's interest in medicine began early, while he was still a boy on Filicudi. He
studied pre-medicine at Long Island University and at New York University, from which he
graduated in 1938 with a B.S. He was then an honor student for four years at the
Marquette University School of Medicine. After receiving his M.D. degree in 1942, he
married his long-time fiancée, Emma Louise Baldetti, and began a war-shortened internship
and specialty training in anesthesiology at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City.
Immediately upon finishing this training, Bonica was assigned to head the anesthesiology
section of Madigan Army Hospital at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he was also in charge
of training physicians and nurses in anesthesiology before they were sent overseas.

After the war, in 1947 he went to work as Chief of Anesthesia at Tacoma General Hospital
and Pierce County Hospital in Tacoma, Washington, where he co-founded the Washington
State Society of Anesthesiologists (WSSA) and helped to found the Northwest Society of
Anesthesiologists (NWSA), eventually being elected to the presidency of both societies.
At this time he also began work on his 1,500 page monograph
The
Management of Pain
, which was published in 1953 and soon came to be considered the
"bible" of pain diagnosis and therapy. Additionally, Bonica was teaching anatomy (from
1948) and anesthesiology (from 1955) at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle.

In 1960 Bonica decided to leave private practice in Tacoma to accept the Chairmanship of
the newly created Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington. Shortly
after assuming this position, he, along with a nurse and a neurosurgeon, founded the UW
Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic, the model for similar clinics throughout the world. He
continued as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology until 1977, and
as Chairman Emeritus and Professor from 1978-1987. He continued working at UW as
Professor and Chairman Emeritus until 1992.

In 1973 he organized an International Symposium on Pain, a six and one-half day program
that attracted over 350 scientists and health professionals from 13 countries who
represented most of the basic science and clinical disciplines. In addition, Bonica
suggested the founding of both an international association devoted to the study of pain
and an international multidisciplinary journal. The following year the International
Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) was officially founded; its journal,
PAIN, was first published in 1975. In 1980, Bonica was elected
president of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists at its 7th World
Congress, held in Hamburg, Germany.

Bonica wrote and edited 41 books, was a collaborator and contributor to 60 other books,
and wrote almost 300 scientific articles, two-thirds of which were devoted to pain
research and therapy. Bonica's many honors include a degree of Doctor of Medical Science
(honoris causa) by the University of Siena, Italy, a Doctor of Science degree from
Northwestern University, the Silver Medal by the Swedish Medical Society, the Gold Medal
for Neuroscience from the German Neurophysiologic Society, and the Gold Medal from the
Italian Algologists. He was elected Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of
the Royal College of Surgeons, a group that is limited to 20 members worldwide. In 1967
he was made Commander and two years later, Grand Officer of the Knights of the Order of
Merit of the Republic of Italy --the latter being the highest award given by the
President of the Republic to foreign nationals. More recently, he was made Hereditary
Knight in the Noble Order of Cingolo Militare at the rank of Baronet by Prince Cesare
d'Altavilla/Napoli/Sicilia.

In 1990 he was honored by Pope John Paul II for his contribution to improve the welfare
of people worldwide, and the Pope requested a copy of the second edition of the
two-volume
The Management of Pain, published that year, for
his private library. Bonica considered his greatest honor to be the establishment by the
University of Washington of the John and Emma Bonica Endowed Chair for Anesthesiology and
Pain Research, which is to remain in perpetuity.

John J. Bonica died on August 15, 1994, following his wife of fifty-two years by just
over a month. They are buried in Seattle, and are survived by their four children,
Angela, Charlotte, Linda, and John.

For more information on the lives of John and Emma Bonica, see the processor's Bonica
page:

The bulk of the collection pertains to Dr. Bonica's professional activities in the 1960s,
1970s, and 1980s. Early materials in the collection include notes from medical school,
circa 1938-1940, and correspondence continues until immediately prior to Bonica's death.
Additional post-mortem correspondence by his secretary follows. The collection contains
manuscript notes, data, and correspondence; slides from presentations; original
publication illustrations; audio and video tape reels; scrapbook items;and some personal
and conference photographs. Major subjects covered in the collection include pain and its
management, pain clinics, clinical and academic anesthesiology, and obstetric analgesia
and anesthesia. Bonica's experience with the foundation of the International Association
for the Study of Pain and the American Pain Society, close involvement with the World
Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists, directorship of the University of
Washington's Department of Anesthesiology and Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic, and work as
Chief of Anesthesia at Tacoma General Hospital are also reflected in the collection.
Frequent correspondents include Thomas Hornbein, John S. McDonald, Patrick D. Wall, and
John D. Loeser.

See the detailed series descriptions for further information.

The Bonica papers were processed in 1996-1998 by David C. Gartrell with assistance from
Heidi Sandstrom in 1997. The collection is organized into nine major series. Brief
descriptions of each follow.

Related Oral History

The following oral history is available through the UCLA Library Center for Oral History Research: